My take on the whole thing is that Rondo should have been assessed a flagrant foul for hitting Brad Miller in the head, the rules of the NBA are clear on that, but not suspended for the next game of the series. Unfortunately, the NBA's officiating is notoriously horrible, and it seems to me that they were prejudiced against Miller because of the huge difference in size between him and Rondo. If the roles were reversed, Miller would have been ejected, fined, suspended and shanked by KG on his way off of the floor, but alas Brad Miller is seven feet tall and Rondo is only a hair over six feet and wire thin to boot, so whistles were swallowed and the outcome of the game was potentially altered.
Except it wasn't. First of all, the Bulls broke down many times down the stretch, including not doubling Paul Pierce in the closing seconds of overtime. Ray Allen was not on the floor, at that point the Bulls HAVE to make somebody other than Pierce beat them. They didn't, and Pierce made them pay. And even if they had called a flagrant (which would have meant free-throws AND the ball back), there's no guarantee that the Bulls would have a) converted the attempts or b) made the final shot once they had the ball again. The Rondo foul and the way it was handled impacted the game to be sure, but not forcing the ball away from Pierce is inexcusable.
As for the question of a suspension, I don't think it is merited in Rondo's case. Although he hit Miller in the head, he was attempting to make some kind of play on the ball in a game deciding moment, so I don't see this play as the same as Howard's elbow or Trevor Ariza's flagrant on Rudy Fernandez earlier this year. Howard hit Dalembert after the play in what was clearly frustration and retaliation and Ariza's play came during a blowout loss at Portland when the game had already been decided. He also hit a player who was farther off the ground and moving much faster than Miller was, and again there's that whole size bias. The whole thing stinks, and I won't be surprised when Miller decks Rondo on Thursday, but I just didn't see the play as suspension-worthy.
All right, enough about fouling, let's talk Blazers for a little bit. Earlier today, Henry Abbott wrote that any self-respecting blogger should be talking about the Blazers, and I am inclined to agree. I was at the game last night (thanks to some tickets scored by the greatest girlfriend ever) and I can tell you that I've never been at a sporting event that comes anywhere close to that. The level of excitement, anticipation, energy and noise were out of control, and the Blazers did an admirable job of fighting off a veteran team with a chance to close out the series early. The loudest cheer from the crowd came when Yao Ming was actually whistled for a foul, and from start to finish the crowd was into it and trying to affect every single play.
As I predicted prior to tip-off, LaMarcus Aldridge had a killer game and couldn't be contained by anyone on Houston's roster. He was posting up, stepping back and taking it to the hole aggressively against a physical Rocket defense with a kind of aggression that I've yet to see from him. For me it was a realization of his gifts married to the desire and drive to carry his team to victory. Aldridge has a huge physical advantage over every one of Houston's players (he's too tall for the likes of Scola, Hayes or Landry, and too quick for Yao) and he finally exerted it, posting up the smaller forwards and getting close to the basket and using his quickness to punish Yao (there was one sequence where he isolated on Yao, crossed over a few times to unsettle the defender and then rose up and splashed the jumper right in his face). And more than simply hitting his jumpers, Aldridge was aggressive going to the basket and forcing the issue against the Rockets. If only he could do this more often, or on the road, or for two games in a row, but for a game, Aldridge carried the Blazers when he absolutely had to.
Complimenting Aldridge's stellar performance (he finished tied with Brandon Roy for the game's high scoring mark at 25) was Portland's MVP, Brandon Roy. Though he didn't play out of his mind, Brandon hit big baskets when his team needed them and always seemed to come in and stem the tide whenever Houston was poised to make a run and put the game away. If he isn't already considered to be there, Brandon Roy will be a top ten player one day. This kid is Paul Pierce with a better left hand and more quickness and the same amount of killer instinct and competitive fire. Once his supporting cast matures and they learn to play a bit more defense, he will be an unstoppable force and a champion, mark my words.
Speaking of defense, I was appalled at the Blazers' spotty defensive effort last night. I know it's impossible to keep Aaron Brooks out of the lane with the hand-checking rules the way they are, but still, the Blazers were victim to dribble penetration all night long and gave up a ton of easy shots to Houston (many were wide open looks for Luis Scola, which he hit with ruthless efficiency, finishing 10-13 from the floor). If Portland is to have any chance at winning game six in Houston, they need to tighten up their defense and really clamp down on Houston.
Speaking of winning game six, at this point I say Portland's chances are slim but not out of reach, which is more credit than I would have given them before last night's game. It occurs to me that Portland isn't a great road team and that the Rockets are experienced and will come out fired up for game six and that my judgement is probably colored from being at the game last night, but my thinking about this series has changed since yesterday.
Portland has gotten better with each game in this series, and this young team is learning how to play playoff basketball every minute that they're on the floor. Knowing that and seeing their progression, I am now thinking that the Blazers have a great chance to shock Houston and the NBA by winning game six tomorrow night. Portland hasn't been blown out on the road yet, and each road game is hard fought and competitive, a good sign for Blazer fans everywhere. The Blazers have taken Houston's best punches and hung tough throughout, and I feel like they are poised to topple the Rockets and steal this series back from them. Before this series started, I would have never given Portland a chance to win a game six on the road, but now I think this is their best chance to win on the road. As this young team learns, they get exponentially more dangerous. If you aren't watching game six on Thursday, you're cheating yourself, end of story.
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